Report: Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting landscape in Japan

New study shows that sustainability and integrated reporting have increased in Japan due to market drivers and investor expectations

Geneva, Switzerland 11 February 2019: Today, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) released a report on the corporate sustainability reporting landscape in Japan. The report highlights that there’s growing market demand for more information on ESG issues and considerations.

By comparing Japan’s sustainability reporting practices with those of the other top ten economies by GDP as well as the 64 other countries covered by the data on the Reporting Exchange, the research shows that sustainability and integrated reporting have increased in Japan due to market drivers and investor expectations rather than through regulatory requirements.

The report also features insights from the Japan Stock Exchange (JPX) on how they see future developments in sustainability disclosure and what role investors play. The report then dives into current reporting practices across WBCSD members in Japan and how they fare on a global scale around materiality, assurance and other reporting aspects. To provide a holistic view, the report also highlights insights from PwC Japan on reporting trends among the Tokyo Stock Price Index (TOPIX) 100.

This is important to understand the current state of corporate ESG reporting in Japan providing insights into improvement opportunities and challenges that other regions can learn from.

Explore the report to learn more about how Japan’s sustainability and integrated reporting is evolving and what are the main challenges going forward.

This paper is part of a series that explores the trends in corporate sustainability reporting that emerge from the research behind the Reporting Exchange, the global resource for corporate sustainability reporting. You can access the whole series here.